DG - Ping Pong - PBS: Public Broadcasting Service · PDF fileDISCUSSION GUIDE |2 Ping Pong LETTER FROM THE FILMMAKERS LONDON, 2013 Les D’Arcy is a legend in the table tennis world:

Ping Pong

A Film by Hugh Hartford and Anson Hartford

Community Engagement & Education

DISCUSSION GUIDE

www.pbs.org/pov

POV

|2DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

LETTER FROM THE FILMMAKERS

LONDON, 2013

Les D’Arcy is a legend in the table tennis world: a seven-time world champ. Within minutes of our meeting him at the Euro-

pean Table Tennis Championships in Croatia, he was quoting Rudyard Kipling’s “If”:

If you can fill the unforgiving

minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of

distance run,

Yours is the Earth and every-

thing that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be

a Man, my son.

(Rudyard Kipling)

D’Arcy introduced us to 81-

year-old Terry Donlon. As we

heard about Donlon’s life-long

battle with illness and how he

uses sport to deal with it, we

knew we had a story that could

take us not only into sports and

aging, but into bigger issues as

well.

We knew that we had to film

people who would make it into

the later stages of the competi-

tion, but also that something

about their outside lives had to

chime with table tennis. So we

started by looking at the statis-

tics from previous world championships and getting in touch with the consistently high scorers.

After telephone interviews and meetings, we created profiles of about 30 players who offered something in terms of both

sports stories and bigger home-life stories. During the world championships in China, the walls in our hotel rooms were cov-

ered with these profiles, and as the competition unfolded we would add comments and re-assess whose stories were pan-

ning out. From the original 30, we started filming 14 and from those we chose our final seven players to follow.

For us, Ping Pong was never going to just be about table tennis. A lot of the film is about growing old and coming to terms

with mortality, but at the same time the people we meet in the film have more passion and lust for life than many people 50

years their junior.

It sounds odd, but at the beginning we thought we were making a film about what life is like toward the end of our lives, but

Ping Pong is much more about living than about dying. It is more about love and friendship than loss and death.

Hugh Hartford and Anson Hartford

Filmmakers, Ping Pong

Filmmakers Anson Hartford (l.) and Hugh Hartford (r.).

Photos courtesy of Hugh Hartford

|3DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

2 Letter from the Filmmakers

4 Introduction

5 Potential Partners

5 Key Issues

5 Using This Guide

6 Background Information

6 World Veterans Table Tennis

Championships

7 Physical Activity and Healthy Aging

10 Did You Know?

11 Selected Athletes Featured

in Ping Pong

19 General Discussion Questions

13 Discussion Prompts

16 Taking Action

17 Resources

19 How to Buy the Film

Writer

Faith Rogow, PhDInsighters Educational Consulting

Research Editors & Guide Producers, POV

Eliza LichtVice President, Community Engagement & Education, POV

Jamie DobieManager, Community Engagement & Education, POV

Aubrey GallegosCoordinator, Community Engagement & Education, POV

Jasmine Sundri

Intern, Community Engagement & Education, POV

Design:

Rafael Jiménez

Copy Editor:

Natalie Danford

Thanks to those who reviewed this guide:

Anson HartfordFilmmaker, Ping Pong

Hugh HartfordFilmmaker, Ping Pong

TABLE OF CONTENTS CREDITS

Seven players with 620 years between them compete in the

over 80 division of the World Veterans Table Tennis Cham-

pionships in China’s Inner Mongolia. British players Terry

Donlon, 81, who has been given a week to live, and Les

D’Arcy, 91, a weightlifter and poet, are going for the gold.

Inge Hermann, 89, from Germany, has used table tennis to

paddle her way out of dementia. And Texan Lisa Modlich,

85, is playing on a world stage for the first time. Ping Pong

(52 min.) is a wonderfully unusual story of friendship, com-

petitiveness, hope—and sheer human tenacity in the face of

aging and mortality.

INTRODUCTION

|4DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

Les D'arcy.

Photo courtesy of Hugh Hartford

Ping Pong is well suited for use in a variety of settings and

is especially recommended for use with:

• Your local PBS station

• Groups that have discussed previous PBS and POV

films relating to aging or competition, including

The Way We Get By, Sweet Old Song, Golden

Threads, Kokoyakyu, Racing Dreams, Age of

Champions, True-Hearted Vixens and FRONTLINE:

Living Old.

• Groups focused on any of the issues listed in the

Key Issues section

• Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and senior

centers

• Sports associations and leagues

• Faith-based organizations and institutions

• Cultural, art and historical organizations,

institutions and museums

• Civic, fraternal and community groups

• Academic departments and student groups at

colleges, universities and high schools

• Community organizations with a mission to

promote education and learning, such as local

libraries

Ping Pong is an excellent tool for outreach and will be of

special interest to people looking to explore the follow-

ing topics:

• aging

• athletics

• competition

• cultural exchange

• friendship

• gerontology

• health

• sports

• table tennis/ping pong

|5DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

USING THIS GUIDE

This guide is an invitation to dialogue. It is based on a belief in the power of human connection, designed for people who

want to use Ping Pong to engage family, friends, classmates, colleagues and communities. In contrast to initiatives that

foster debates in which participants try to convince others that they are right, this document envisions conversations un-

dertaken in a spirit of openness in which people try to understand one another and expand their thinking by sharing

viewpoints and listening actively.

The discussion prompts are intentionally crafted to help a wide range of audiences think more deeply about the issues

in the film. Rather than attempting to address them all, choose one or two that best meet your needs and interests. And

be sure to leave time to consider taking action. Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and

optimistic, even in instances when conversations have been difficult.

For more detailed event planning and facilitation tips, visit www.pbs.org/pov/outreach

POTENTIAL PARTNERS KEY ISSUES

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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Ping Pong

World Veterans Table Tennis Championships

The sport of table tennis originated in Britain in the 1880s.

London hosted the first official world championship in 1926.

Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988.

The first World Veterans Table Tennis Championships took

place in 1982 in Gothenburg, Sweden and they have taken

place every two years since then. The competition is super-

vised by the Swaythling Club International and the Interna-

tional Table Tennis Federation.

Each edition of the competition takes place in a different

country. Hosts have included Switzerland, Japan, China and

Germany. Ping Pong follows the 2010 competition in

Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China.

The most recent championships took place in 2012 in

Stockholm, Sweden with 3,200 players competing.

Events included men’s and women’s singles and

doubles for players in the following age brackets: 40-49, 50-

59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84 and 85 and older. To

be eligible for the competition, a player must simply have

reached 40 years of age during the calendar year when the

event takes place.

The oldest competitor in 2012 was Kaptarenko Alexandra,

from Russia. He was 100 years old.

The 2014 World Veteran Championships will take place in

Auckland, New Zealand.

Lisa Modlich at the World Championships.



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Ping Pong

Sources:

16th World Veterans Championships.

http://wvc2012.com/en/tournament/regler/

16th World Veterans Championships. “General Information.”

http://wvc2012.com/en/tournament/allman-information/

International Table Tennis Federation. “Timeline of Table Tennis

Milestones.”

http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story2.asp?id=13118&categor

y=menus

Paddle Palace.

http://blog.paddlepalace.com/2012/06/2012-world-veterans-table-

tennis-championships-stockholm-sweden/

Physical Activity and Healthy Aging

The positive impact of physical activity on mental health and

well-being is widely recognized. A large body of research in-

dicates that physical activity can help manage weight, pre-

vent chronic illness, reduce anxiety and lower the risk for

depression. Studies show that even a 30- to 45-minute walk

five times a week can boost the body’s immune system.

Physical activity has also been shown to change the body’s

immune system in ways that may help to protect against

some forms of cancer. Harvard Women’s Health Watch re-

ports that exercising regularly may cause a woman’s

chances of getting breast cancer to fall 20 to 30 percent, in

part because exercise may lower estrogen levels.

In older populations, physical activity has been shown to

prevent falls by improving strength, flexibility and balance. A

2012 study published in the journal Neurology also found a

link between a higher level of total daily physical activity and

Lisa Modlich.



|8DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The study worked with

716 participants of the Rush Memory and Aging Project, an

ongoing longitudinal study on aging which began in 1997.

As reported in TIME magazine, a series of brain-function

studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2010

support this finding. Scientists found that those who exer-

cised at least three times a week were half as likely to have

developed dementia, compared with the people who re-

ported no physical activity.

There is also a growing body of research demonstrating the

beneficial cognitive side effects of specific sports and activ-

ities, including ping pong and table tennis. These games re-

quire hand-eye coordination, rapid eye movements and

quick calculations. Alzheimer’s Weekly reportes a clear in-

crease in motor skills and cognitive awareness from playing

table tennis after a series of preliminary clinical studies in

Japan found that table tennis markedly increases the

flow of blood to the brain and could possibly even

prevent dementia. The same studies noted improved sleep-

ing patterns, better coordination and upper body strength

and improved balance among players. In addition, table ten-

nis was found to provide opportunities for patients to so-

cialize, as well as a means for alleviating feelings of isolation

and depression.

In 2010, the first (and only) table tennis therapy program in

the United States was started through the Sport and Art Ed-

ucational Foundation. The program is designed for seniors

with early stage Alzheimer's and various forms of dementia.

Television personality Mehmet Oz helped popularize the

benefits of table tennis when he devoted a segment of his

show to ping pong in 2010 and touted it as a “brain sport.”

Anson Hartford & Daniel Owen at the World Championships.



|9DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

Sources:

American Academy of Neurology. “Exercise May Trump Mental Activity

in Protecting Against Brain Shrinkage.”

http://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/1111

Bachman, A.S, P.A. Boyle, L. Yu, R.C. Shah, R.S. Wilson and D.A.

Bennett. “Total Daily Physical Activity and the Risk of AD and

Cognitive Decline in Older Adults.” Neurology, April 18, 2012.

The Dr. Oz Show. “The Secret of Ping Pong.”

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/secret-ping-pong

Jackson, Michael James. “Table Tennis and Alzheimer’s?” USA Table

Tennis Magazine, January/February 2012.

Landro, Laura. “The Hidden Benefits of Exercise.” The Wall Street

Journal, January 5, 2010.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870435030457463833

1243027174.html

“Let’s Get Physical.” London: Mental Health Foundation, 2013.

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/awareness-week-2013-

report/

“Seven for 2007 : Seven Things You Should Know About Breast

Cancer Risk. There's no big way to reduce your risk for breast cancer,

but a combination of approaches could make a difference.” Harvard

Women’s Health Watch, January, 2007.

Minou, Masoumeh, Carolyn Less, Diane Singleton, Ricky Wallace and

Gareth Stratton. “The Effect of a 12-week Community Based Exercise

Programme on the Prevention of Falls in People Aged 60+ in

Liverpool.” Liverpool: Liveability Programme, February 2012.

Mori, Teruaki, Shin-ichi Satoh and Tomohiko Satoh. “Examination on

the Effects of Table Tennis Play to the Brain Blood Flows.” Presented

at the Conference of the Japan Society of Clinical Sports-Medicine,

October 26-27, 1996.

Park, Alice. “Exercise to Protect Aging Bodies – and Brains.” TIME,

January 26, 2010.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1956619,00.html

Sport and Art Educational Foundation. “SAEF Table Tennis Therapy

Program.”

http://saef.us/alzheimers.html

Nelly Penny.



|10DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

Did You Know?

Table tennis is the world's most popular racquet sport.

(Killerspin Table Tennis http://www.killerspin.com/spin-info-general)

The earliest games of ping pong were played in England in the 1880s.

The game was an adaptation of lawn tennis and was played on dining

room tables in parlors.

(A Comprehensive History of Table Tennis, The ITFF Museum

http://www.ittf.com/museum/history.html)

The American game and toy manufacturer Parker Brothers acquired

the American rights to the name “ping pong.”

(A Comprehensive History of Table Tennis, The ITFF Museum

http://www.ittf.com/museum/history.html)

In England in the early 1890s, alternative names for table tennis

included parlour tennis, flim-flam and whiff whaff.

(Tim Harris, Sport: Almost Everything You Ever Wanted to Know, Random House, 2009)

Ping pong was originally played with a cork ball, but the ball bounced

so badly that eventually a celluloid ball came to be used in its place.

(Tim Harris, Sport: Almost Everything You Ever Wanted to Know, Random House, 2009)

20 million Americans play recreational table tennis each year

(Dreier, Frederick. “The Fight to Save Ping Pong.” The Wall Street Journal, June 27, 2013

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324634304578535532463401830.html)

Ping Pong was banned in the Soviet Union from 1930 to 1950 because

the sport was believed to be harmful to the eyes.

(TimeOut Table Tennis Guide – London 2012 Olympic Games

http://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/table-tennis-guide-london-2012-

olympic-games)

The world’s top table tennis players can hit the ball at speeds of more

than 100 miles per hour.

(Grimsby Telegraph http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/ball-reach-speeds-100mph/story-

18695093-detail/story.html)

The first Olympics to feature table tennis as an official sport were the

1988 summer games in Seoul, South Korea.

(Grimsby Telegraph http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/ball-reach-speeds-100mph/story-

18695093-detail/story.html)


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Ping Pong

British player Les D’Arcy, 89, is Terry’s doubles partner. Les is

a renowned advocate for the elderly, known for his

determined—some would say fanatical—pursuit of activities

such as weightlifting, triathlon and shot-put.

Fellow Brit Terry Donlon is 81 and has cancer. He plays

wearing a nebulizer for shortness of breath, earning him a

reputation as a “walking miracle.” Now, he’s been given one

week to live.

Swede Rune Forsberg, 85, an archrival of Les, sees the 2010

competition as his last chance for gold.

Selected Athletes Featured in Ping Pong

Dorothy DeLow of Australia may not be the best player, but

she’s a legend in her own right. At 100, she is the game’s

oldest competitive player.


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Ping Pong

Lisa Modlich of Houston, a relative newcomer at 85, has led

an exciting life. She was raised in an aristocratic Viennese

family and fought in the French Resistance before emigrating

to the U.S. She is now married to Joachim, 25 years her junior,

and is one of the game’s fiercest competitors.

Ursula Bihl, 89, of Germany, won the world championship

three years earlier and almost gave up on going to the 2010

championship.

German Inge Hermann, 89, ended up in the dementia ward of

a nursing home after her husband’s death 15 years earlier.

Introduced to table tennis as therapy, she literally paddled her

way back to physical and mental wellbeing, and today she

manages the nursing home and teaches computer science

classes. In Ping Pong, she’s going to her first international

competition.

Immediately after the film, you may want to give people a

few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen or

pose a general question (examples below) and give people

some time to themselves to jot down or think about their

answers before opening the discussion:

• If you could ask anyone in the film a single question,

whom would you ask and what would you ask him or

her?

• What did you learn from this film? What insights did

it provide?

• If a friend asked you what this film was about, what

would you say?

• Describe a moment or scene in the film that moved

you. What was it about that scene that was

especially compelling?

GENERAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

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Ping Pong

Lisa Modlich.


DISCUSSION PROMPTS

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Ping Pong

Athletes

In a newspaper story, Ursula Bihl suggests that young

people will be surprised by her athletic success. Why would

young people be surprised? How do the accomplishments

of the athletes in the film challenge stereotypes of older

people? In what ways did they challenge or affirm your own

ideas about senior citizens?

Les D’Arcy says, “Life’s battles don’t always go to the

stronger or fitter man. But sooner or later, the man that wins

is the man who thinks he can.” How does attitude contribute

to the success of the athletes we meet in the film?

Lisa Modlich’s husband, Joachim, describes her by saying,

“I think the main force that drives Lisa is competition.” She

acknowledges, “In school I always had to be number one. I

like it.” How is Modlich like or unlike the competitive people

you know? What are the benefits and drawbacks of being

extremely competitive?

What did you notice about the training regimens used by

these athletes? How did they prepare for competition?

How are these athletes different from and similar to

other athletes?

In your opinion, what differentiates an athlete from a recre-

ational player?

Lisa Modlich describes her playing style: “It’s not how hard

you play, it’s where you put it.” How might strategy change

as physical capacity diminishes?

Terry Donlon says, “I think your mind can cure a lot of your

body.” Commenting on a match in which he struggled, he

says, “This is where the mind takes over. You ignore the pain.

You just keep doing it. Ignore it. Try and think of something

else and not what’s happening in your arm.” How does ath-

letic competition sharpen an athlete’s mind and how do ath-

letes use the power of their minds to sharpen their

competitive edge?

The world championship involves competitors from around

the globe. What is it about athletics that opens up opportu-

nities for cultural exchange and global cooperation, even in

circumstances where politics fail?

Les D'Arcy at the World Championships.


DISCUSSION PROMPTS

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Ping Pong

Health

Lisa Modlich says that she gets a high after playing: “My en-

dorphins really go berserk after a good game.” What did you

learn from the film about healthy aging and the potential

benefits of athletic competition?

Inge Hermann began playing table tennis in a nursing home

to help her recover from a stroke. Good health is often cited

as a prerequisite for athletic participation, but what about

the opposite? What is the potential healing power of sports?

Legacy

After a loss, Les D’Arcy says that table tennis is a game “that

one can do to a ripe old age. But you wonder, is it worth the

effort? Can you be doing something more constructive?” Do

you think the game is worth the effort expended by the peo-

ple we see in the film? What do they gain from the ex-

perience?

D’Arcy summarizes a poem, saying, “So we’ve got to tell

people nice things whilst they’re around and not wait until

they’re dead.” What “nice things” haven’t you told the peo-

ple in your life? When do you think would be a good time to

share your thoughts with them?

D’Arcy enjoys reciting verse. What sayings or poems are

your favorites?

Lisa Modlich & Susan Sarandon.


Additional media literacy questions are available at:

www.pbs.org/pov/educators/media-literacy.php

Taking Action

• Use a screening of the film to kick off a friendly ping pong tournament in a local

assisted living or senior citizen community center.

• Commit to helping one elder in your family or community live a healthier life by

taking regular walks with him or her, preparing healthy meals with or for him or

her and scheduling activities involving physical movement. Consider developing

a “buddy system” within your organization, religious group (such as members of

a church, synagogue or mosque) or neighborhood to pair an older person with a

younger person.

• Interview local senior athletes and share their stories via local media and/or

online outlets such as blogs or video sharing sites.

|16DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

Terry.


Original Online Content on POV To further enhance the broadcast, POV has produced an interactive website to enable viewers to explore the film in greater

depth. The Ping Pong website—www.pbs.org/pov/PingPong—offers a streaming video trailer for the film; an interview with the

filmmakers; a list of related websites, articles and books; a downloadable discussion guide; and special features.

What’s Your POV? Share your thoughts about Ping Pong by posting a comment at http://www.pbs.org/pov/PingPong

RESOURCES

|17DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

FILMMAKER WEBSITE

PING PONG

http://pingpongfilm.co.uk

In addition to reviews and information about

the film and filmmakers, the site includes

exercise activity posters and resources to

help you organize an event.

THE BRITDOC FOUNDATION

http://britdoc.org

A not-for-profit film foundation in the UK,

BRITDOC conducted an exemplary outreach

campaign for Ping Pong and produced a free

lesson plan to accompany the film. The lesson

plan can be accessed on the Doc Academy

website (https://docacademy.org/

films/2/ping-pong/), a site conceived by

BritDoc and designed by and for teachers to

provide lesson plans for non-fiction films.

Anson Hartford in Yorkshire.


RESOURCES

|18DISCUSSION GUIDE

Ping Pong

Active Aging

AGE OF CHAMPIONS

http://ageofchampions.org/health/

The website for this documentary offers general

information on healthy aging for seniors and becoming an

athlete after age 50.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS

www.aarp.org/

This membership and advocacy organization for

Americans 50 and older provides a wide range of

resources and information related to health and active

aging.

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION:

HEALTHY AGING

www.cdc.gov/aging/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides

information on healthy aging and related issues and

services.

FRONTLINE: LIVING OLD

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/livingold/

The website for this FRONTLINE series features stories of

diverse elders and their families as they face a range of life

(and death) choices.

Athletic Competition

NATIONAL SENIOR GAMES ASSOCIATION

www.nsga.com

In addition to information about athletic competitions for

athletes over age 50, this site includes health and fitness

resources and recommendations.

TEAM USA TABLE TENNIS

www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/

The website of the official sanctioning organization for

competitive ping pong in the United States includes

information about clubs, events, rules and player rankings.

The U.K. Veterans Table Tennis Society,

www.vetts.org.uk/, is a similar organization for players

over 40. There are also Veterans Table Tennis associations

in Australia, Sweden and New Zealand (where the 2014

World Veterans Table Tennis Championships will be held).

SPIN GALACTIC

http://newyork.spingalactic.com/

SPiN Galactic is a network of ping-pong night clubs where

anyone can play ping pong, eat, drink, socialize, and host

events. Owned and created by Franck Raharinosy, Andrew

Gordon, Jonathan Bricklin and Academy Award-winning

actress Susan Sarandon, SPiN can be found in New York,

Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Toronto and Dubai.

Ping Pong Therapy

SPORT AND ART EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION:

TABLE TENNIS THERAPY PROGRAM

http://saef.us/alzheimers.html

The first and only U.S. table tennis therapy program is

located in Los Angeles, California and is designed for

seniors with early stage Alzheimer’s and various forms of

dementia.

HOW TO BUY THE FILM

To order Ping Pong for home or educational use, please visit http://pingpongfilm.co.uk/watch

Front cover: Les D'arcy. Photo courtesy of Hugh Hartford

The See it On PBS logo is a trademark of the Public Broadcasting Service and is used with permission. All rights reserved.

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DG - Ping Pong - PBS: Public Broadcasting Service · PDF fileDISCUSSION GUIDE |2 Ping Pong LETTER FROM THE FILMMAKERS LONDON, 2013 Les D’Arcy is a legend in the table tennis world: